GENERAL MOTORS. THIS TIME IT IS THE TOP SELLING CAR. NEW DETAILS EMERGING IN BIZARRE CASE OF A 12-YEAR-OLD BOY FOUND IN THE BASEMENT OF HIS OWN HOME. FAMILY MEMBER ARRESTED. TWO OTHER CHILDREN REMOVED. AND BRAND NEW INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT CHARLIE BOTHUELL'S LIFE WAS LIKE BEFORE HE DISAPPEARED. GOOD EVENING. SINCE 6:00, STRING OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING CHARLIE BOTHUELL'S DISAPPEARANCE. IT STEPMOTHER ARRESTED AND HALF BROTHER AND SISTER TAKEN IN NOW BY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES. CHARLIE IS WITH HIS BIOLOGICAL MOTHER. SHAWN LEY LEARNED ABOUT HOW HE IS DOING. WE WILL GET TO SHAWN AND BEGIN WITH MARA MACDONALD, WHO JUST UNCOVERED BRAND NEW DETAILS ABOUT WHAT LIFE WAS REALLY LIKE FOR CHARLIE, AND MARRA, IT WAS A RIGOROUS ROUTINE. CARMEN, PART OF THAT RIGOROUS AND REGIMENTED ROUTINE MAY BE THE REASON OR WHAT WAS BEHIND WHAT PRECIPITATED ALL OF THIS. GET TO THAT. BUT FIRST, WE HAVE HAD AN EXTREMELY BUSY NIGHT ON YOU HERE. YOU TALKED ABOUT IT. THAT 12-YEAR-OLD STEPMOTHER HAS BEEN ARRESTED. BUT NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM. POLICE CAME IN HERE TONIGHT AND PULLED HER OUT ON A PROBATION VIOLATION. SHE IS ON PROBATION TO BUYING A PISTOL WITHOUT A PERMIT. WELL HAD POLICE WENT INTO THE HOME. THEY FOUND HER TO BE IN POSSESSION OF A HANDGUN. DETROIT POLICE AND CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES MAKING A MOVE LATE TONIGHT. 12-YEAR-OLD STEPMOTHER ARRESTED BY POLICE AND OTHER TWO CHILDREN, FOUR YIELD BOY AND 10 MONTH OLD GIRL, IN THE HOME, REMOVED WHILE THE INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE HOME INTENSIFIES. NEW TONIGHT. SOURCES SAY THEY BELIEVE CHARLIE WAS IN THE BASEMENT THE WHOLE TIME. COMING UP STAIRS TO EAT WHEN HE THOUGHT THE COAST WAS CLEAR. WHAT PRECIPITATED THE 12-YEAR-OLD TO RUN AND HIDE. POLICE SAY THE HOME SCHOOLED 12-YEAR-OLD WAS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE AND EXERCISE REGIMENT. FATHER WAS ON HIM ABOUT HIS WEIGHT. AND THE BOY WAS EXPECTED TO DO A MINIMUM OF 4000 STRIDES ON THE ELLIPTICAL WITHOUT A BREAK. HE NEEDED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. GOT OFF THE EXERCISE MACHINE AND HIS STEPMOTHER ALERTED CHARLIE'S FATHER TO TRANSGRESSION. BOY ALLEGEDLY AFRAID OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM. TO BE THE IT IS CLEAR POLICE ARE TAKING A CLOSE LOOK AT BOTH THE BOY'S FATHER AND STEPMOTHER. TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE BEHAVIOR IN THIS HOME WAS OVER THE LINE. AND WHETHER EITHER OF THEM KNEW HE WAS HIDDEN AWAY AND BARRICADED IN THE BASEMENT. TONIGHT ONLY CAMERAS ROLLING AS CHARLES BOTHUELL SENIOR EXITED THE FAMILY HOME AFTER HIS WIFE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY GETTING THE WORD OUT. I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT EVERYBODY DID. DETROIT POLICE. FBI. MEDIA. EVERYTHING. AND FINDING MY SON. GLAD HE IS SAFE. I AM THANKFUL. AND I JUST HAVE NO FURTHER COMMENT AT THIS TIME. BACK HERE LIVE. IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THIS, POLICE SOURCES CONFIRMING FOR US THAT THEY ARE TESTING SOME BLOOD EVIDENCE. THEY ARE TESTING BLOOD EVIDENCE FOUND ON A PVC IN THIS HOME. AND TESTING BLOOD EVIDENCE FOUND IN THE FATHER'S ROOM. WHETHER EITHER OF THE PIECES OF EVIDENCE HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANCE AT THIS POINT, CARMEN, DEVIN, HAS BEEN DETERMINED. BACK TO YOU. NOW, MARA, DO WE KNOW IF CHARLIE IS COOPERATING WITH INVESTIGATORS. HE MET WITH POLICE WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL. NOW RELEASED.

DETROIT -

The case of a 12-year-old Detroit boy found alive in his father’s basement after being reported as missing for 11 days took a strange turn Thursday evening.

Detroit police and Child Protective Services descended on the Lafayette Park condo and arrested Charlie Bothuell's stepmother on a probation violation and removed two other children -- a 4-year-old boy and a 10-month-old girl -- from the home.

While police continue to delve into exactly what was going on in the Bothuell home, sources have given Local 4 new details on the investigation.

Police said they believe the 12-year-old boy was in the basement the entire time he was missing and that he would come upstairs when he thought the coast was clear in order to eat.

What precipitated the boy to hide? Sources said home-schooled Charlie was on a strict regimen and his father had been on him about his weight. He was required to do 4,000 strides on an elliptical trainer without a break.

Police said the 12-year-old was in the middle of his exercise routine when he desperately had to go to the bathroom and got off the machine. His stepmother reported that transgression to his father, and allegedly the boy was afraid of what was going to happen to him.

Police are now trying to determine whether either the boy’s stepmother or father knew he was barricaded in the basement and whether the behavior in that home was over the line.

Police found blood on a PVC pipe and on some clothes in the father's room that's being tested. Whether it has any significance is not yet clear.

After police arrested his wife and removed two other children from the home, Charles Bothuell IV told Local 4 he couldn’t comment on the case but said, "I appreciate everybody getting the word out. I appreciate the work that everybody did -- the Detroit police, the FBI, the media -- everything to find my son and I'm glad he's safe. I'm thankful and I just have no further comment at this time."

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